How To Be A Heartbreaker
by berub
Summary: She takes a bet she regrets a second later, but she's not one to go back on her word. So now she's stuck with having to break his heart even though she isn't even sure if he has one.
1. Prologue

"_Think you're funny, think you're smart,  
Yeah, you may be good looking,  
But you're not a piece of art.  
Power and control,  
I'm gonna make you fall.  
Power and control,  
I'm gonna make you fall.  
Women and men we are the same,  
But love will always be a game."_

_/Marina and the Diamonds/_

* * *

„Merlin damn it!" I cursed which was not a thing I usually did. I was five minutes late from my class and I even had to skip breakfast. I had studied till dawn last night, and here were the results, I couldn't get out of my bed in time.

I stood in front of the full length mirror that we had in our room, and I was struggling with this bastard called eyeliner. I had to clean it off three times already, due to my hand that was shaking because I was in a hurry. I counted to ten in my head, I breathed in and out, then tried again, and managed to draw a tick, straight line. I quickly grabbed my mascara, applied it on my eyelashes, put on some blush, and I was already running down the stairs.

I was in the common room, when I realized I forgot my bag. I cursed again, ran back, then I rushed to the History of Magic class.

I added doing my make-up to my morning schedule when I started my last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and it usually took only five minutes of my precious time, but today that was five minutes of being late.

Of course, professor Binns did not notice my loud arriving to the sleepy silence, and he kept talking without batting an eyelid. A mocking voice came from beside me when I took the last free seat.

„If you are late, Granger, don't punish _me_ with forcing your company on me!"

Harry and Ron shrugged apologetically sitting two rows before me. They must have thought I was skipping class; hence they did not hold a seat for me. It was hard to admit even to myself, but it has happened a few weeks ago. Only because I had to study for another class, but still…

"Don't be afraid for a minute, Malfoy, you won't have the opportunity to enjoy my company" I told him coolly, and I moved as far from him as it was possible without sitting on the floor. I took out some parchments, ink and quill, and I tried to pay attention to the story of the second trolluprising, and its affect on muggles. I can't even remember the last time Malfoy was able to put me off with his pathetic attempts, no matter how hard he tried to offend me.

"Since when are you late from classes, Granger? Had a long night? Would it be possible that Weaselbee finally managed to get into that bushy castle of yours?" When he realized his innuendo, he started giggling like a little girl. He only insulted me out of old habits, it was clear, especially considering he always mocked my buckteeth and bushy hair, even though I no longer had any of them.

"I broke up with Ron three months ago, not that it's any of your business" I said giving the cold shoulder, and tried to block him out as hard as I could. I started to scribble on my parchment, because Professor Binns started to tell the whole uprising from the beginning. I wrote down incoherent lyrics, anything that came into my head, and I decided on completely ignoring Malfoy.

"My heart is bleeding out for you, the golden couple broke up. I really don't know which one of you was luckier to get rid of the other one. Though if I consider the doom of such flaming love… no, sorry, no matter what, you're still both lucky" He paused after every single sentence, waiting for my reaction, but I did not even flinch, just continued the scribbling. I had to push back a smile though, because Malfoy had more curiosity in his voice, than hostility.

It was a big relief that the class was over soon, because no matter how cool I looked on the outside, I was on the verge of exploding because of holding back my witty comebacks just to be the bigger person.

"Oh, sorry, did you say something?" I batted my eyelids on him innocently, then I was the first one to leave the classroom with a little smile on my face.

* * *

"… so I broke up with Justin" Lavender finished her story.

"Lavender, for Merlin's sake, it was just a friendly peck on the cheeks. She had her birthday yesterday!" It was more than obvious, that Justin Finch-Fletchley had no intention of cheating on Lavender with Susan Bones, but Lavender needed an excuse to break up with him, and it was an excuse, even if a lame one.

"Did we criticize your decision to break up with Ron three months ago? No, we bloody didn't. You felt like it, we understood. So please, now understand me! Talking about three month, the mourning period is officially over, time to look for another prey." The term of looking for a prey was something only Lavender would say.

"No 'looking for another prey'. If I find someone I like, I'll tell you."

"You had a pretty nice chat with Malfoy today" Parvati noted, then all three of us took a look at each other's face, and laughter burst out of us.

"He needs someone to cut his comb" I answered, when the laughter died off.

"Why won't you be that someone?" Lavender asked, and I did not answer except for a "Really?!" look on my face. "Why not? You have to admit, he does look quite good, there is the thrill of the challenge, and you have more reasons to screw him over than anyone else in this school. Catch his attention, make him fall in love with you, and then break his heart into millions of pieces! Or would that be too much for you to handle?" She asked with pulling one of her eyebrows up.

"There is no such thing. But it would be too Slytherin for me. And he would need to have a heart for me to be able to crush it. I'm not getting into this, and it's final. Sleep tight!" I went to my bed and lied down.

"Did you notice how defensive she was?

"Malfoy is too big of a fish to catch."

I lied there and thought about the things he said to me in the last seven years. The fact, that I decided a while ago not to go into his little games, and staying calm made me feel like a better person, but also like someone who is not able to stand up for herself. He deserves some punishment. Hell, half of the school had at least one bad moment with him. I still couldn't believe my own voice when I spoke up.

"The bet is on. What is the winner's price?"

"I'm not sure. I don't want to bet in money" Lavender shrugged, who thought she already won the fight, so she no longer felt like she needed to motivate me. "What if you would do our homework till the end of this year, if we won? Okay, it sounds pretty lame, but I hate to stay up till four in the morning to do it."

"Lavender, you never in your life have stayed up till four to do homework."

"That is actually true, but if we win, we will no longer have to feel guilty about it" Parvati joined the conversation again, obviously liking the idea. "You get two weeks to pick him up. It will be a piece of cake. Now tell us what you want!

"I don't want anything, and what's the use of a bet when you can't offer me anything if I win? I think I was jumping into this too quickly."

"What do you mean 'what's the use'?" Lavender snapped. "You can prove yourself to us and to yourself, and Malfoy gets to pay for bullying you for seven years. That is more than enough reason, and you can come up with something about your price along the way. A price you have to win first, of course. But I can see you are not so sure about winning at all."

With a tired moan I counted to ten in my head. I smiled, when I remembered how bad my reaction used to be when someone tried to offend me. Like when I punched Malfoy in the face. What a nice memory. I knew just as much as the girls did that accepting this challenge made no sense. But I accepted it, and I blame it on the fact that I was exhausted. I still could not chicken out; I was a Gryffindor after all.

"Just watch and learn" I mumbled cockily to the girls, and I heard them giggle a little before I fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: So, this is my first story in English, let me know what you think about it!**

**Also, English is obviously not my first language, and I tried to find a beta to help me, because I have no idea how you use your commas, it makes absolutely no sense, and I'm pretty sure I have some problems with my choice of words and other grammatical errors, too – but no one replied to me to even say no. So if any of you would be so kind to offer me your help with these things, I would be really grateful, and please, send me a PM!**

**(I've already have this story finished and published in Hungarian on an other site, and I translated more than the half of it, so I can update this pretty regurarly.)**


	2. Decoy

**Disclaimer: (which I forgot in my prologue, sorry) J.K. Rowling owns it all, and we only own our hell anyway.**

* * *

_"Close your eyes and make believe this is where you want to be  
Forgetting all the memories, try to forget love cause love's forgotten me  
Well hey, hey baby, it's never too late pretty soon you won't remember a thing  
And I'll be distant, the stars reminiscing  
Your heart's been wasted on me_

_You've never been so used as I'm using you, abusing you_  
_My little decoy_  
_Don't look so blue, you should've seen right through_  
_I'm using you, my little decoy_  
_My little decoy"_

_/Paramore – Decoy/_

* * *

I spent my morning trying to come up with a plan from the start to the very end. If you plan, you may fail. If you don't plan, you're doomed to fail. It was clear that I could not just start to be all flirty with him, it would be too obvious. He would have found out in no time that I was up to something, and even if he would have gone along with it, I never would have broken his heart.

Dear Merlin, did I just think that? Did I just assume that Malfoy actually does have a heart? This plan is doomed to fail, and I can not be a coward and give up. I said yes, I will go through with it.

Okay, so I couldn't show suddenly bold interest. But I couldn't wait for him to just fall in love with me either. I had to find the healthy balance, in other words: I had to pretend that I wanted to hide the fact that I was utterly and fatally in love with him. Beyond recovery. The thought of this act neither disgusted me, nor gave me desire; I did just like I do when I'm preparing for an exam: I did not focus on the subject, or if I care for it at all, but rather the goal, the outcome. I took a deep breath, and began.

I took a long glance at myself at the mirror. Rule number one: Malfoy is shallow. The people who use other's look to insult them are all shallow, I'm sorry. I spent a great amount of foundation and concealer to make the shadows under my eyes disappear. I haven't slept enough in who knows how long.

I decided to start the mission right away, so I put a little more make-up on, than I would normally do. I grabbed my wand I started to work on my robe. After a few minutes my robe would show my breasts and my small waist a little more. Not in a way that teachers could have said anything, but it was enough to make a difference. I felt shallow suddenly. I would never want to make a guy want me for my looks. I've started using make-up because I thought that in some weird ways it could save my relationship with Ron, but the reason obviously changed after we broke up. I just felt better in my skin this way, and I would have been hurt if someone would want me only after I put it on. But I knew Malfoy won't just fall in love with my amazing personality, so I did my hair with my usual straightening spell, and looked away from the mirror.

I made my way to the Great Hall, trying to remember when Malfoy usually arrived to Potions. To complete the first bit of my plan, I would have needed this information, but I never paid attention if he was late of early.

I drank a cup of orange juice for breakfast, and I wanted to just leave it that way, so my stomach would seem even more flat. Then I giggled to myself a little, and put some scrambled eggs to my plate. I'm always one hundred percent in everything, but no way in hell that I would give up things I like just to win some ridiculous bet. And Merlin, I _loved_ food.

Harry and Ron took a confused glanced at me. I'm not that quite usually, and I wouldn't say I laugh on my own thought too often either. We were only able to talk for a few minutes, while we discussed the quidditch season that was about to come, then we got off to different classes. I had Study of Ancient Runes, and I spent most of my class scheming for Potions. While I was walking to the dungeons I swore to myself, that if this plan takes my attention off of my studying, I'm out, no matter what I have to do because of the bet.

* * *

I was an early bird. As I stood in front of the classroom, I remembered a conversation with Harry and Ron from a few months ago, where we were angry after Snape took twenty points from our house, even though Malfoy and his little team were always late. I opened the door, and only Pansy Parkinson and her so called friends were in there. I went straight to the table behind them and without looking at them, I sat down.

"That is Draco's table!" Pansy screamed.

"Is it? Like he actually owns it?" I asked, making a fake surprised face, and taking a theatrical look at under the table, at the chair, then at the top of the table. "I can't see his name on it."

"What, Buckteeth, you want my table?" A voice came from behind me. Draco Malfoy just made an entrance with Blaise Zabini on his side. There goes my luck; he came in time for the first time this year, and it's the only time he was not supposed to. Anyway, I already sat down, it makes no difference when he comes is.

"Do I have to tell you, too, that this table is not actually yours? Anyway, I'm bored of the first row, I thought you should give it a try maybe."

"Do want to know what I would want to try?" he hissed at me, and had his wand in his hand in no time.

"Mr Malfoy, although it's quite delightful to know that you practice wizardry with such enthusiasm, I have to ask you to never point your wand at any of your classmates. In my class, that is." Snape joined us with Harry and Ron behind him. "And 10 points for everyone who is late. That's going to be twenty from Gryffindor. Mr Malfoy, take a seat, you've been looking at your chair for five minutes now."

Okay, this far everything went the way it should have, since Snape told us we have to work in pairs. Everyone with the person next to them, which would be Malfoy in my case. I can move on to the second step of my plan.

"I'm sorry, Draco, I'm so sorry." I apologized after dropping my cauldron on his hand. I made a weird face, then corrected myself. "Malfoy. I meant to say Malfoy. I'm just… The lack of sleep confused me. Believe me, it won't happen again."

I left him with his curious face and went to grab the ingredients. Today's Potion is getting actually interesting.

I met Harry at the cupboard.

"Hermione, perfect timing, I need to talk to you. But first, would you explain it to me what are you exactly doing with the git?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later. Tell me the other thing quickly, before Piton takes a hundred points from Gryffindor for talking to me."

"Did you know that there's going to be a Hogsmeade weekend this week? I'll tell you everything in Charms. Dumbledore has a suspicion, I have an idea. Don't make any plans with Parvati or Ginny, it is important."

"Okay, got it, but I have to go now." I said with six phials in my hand, and then took off. I actually had plans about the Malfoy-operation, but I was going to have to change them, I had three days to work it out. I had to focus on step two now, and I was nervous about it. I could blow it in so many ways, Piton could stand in the way, McGonagall's habits could have changed…

I tried not to think about the possibilities and went to our table.

"Would you be so kind to tell me, Granger, what the bloody hell was this good for?" Oh, I almost forgot how charming Malfoy could be.

"What are you talking about?"

"About you sitting next to me. You managed to get involved with Weaselbee, and now you think you have a chance with a Malfoy, too?!" He was asking the question to make fun of me, and he did not mean anything with it until I turned away to hide my blushing face. Or to make him believe I'm hiding my blushing face. Two seconds later, after I turned back, I saw him eying me confusedly. He had no idea what to think out if it, or what I am up to, but he knew something was off, and I knew I have to take back a little, so I would not overact it. I hoped he would be conceited enough to believe someone like me would fall for him from one day to the other, and he would not ever question it, but I had to admit, he was conceited, not stupid.

We worked without taking a glance at each other for the rest of the class. I considered to put the next step off until the next Potions, but that would have meant I would have lost a week doing nothing and I could not be sure if there's ever going to be a chance like this. I pushed some chopped moonflower roots next to his hands, while he was working on the pigweed. I ran through my receipt once again, and when I saw Malfoy eyeing the moonflowerroots, I took a step back. I watched him reading the receipt to find out when to throw it into the cauldron.

"Ten minutes left, I ask everyone to finish the potion and start filling it into phials." Snape spoke up. Malfoy shrugged a little, and then throw everything that was left on the table into the cauldron. I took another step back, and…

BOOM!

I held back the laughter that was about to burst out of me, and I asked in a chocked voice: "Merlin's pants, are you okay, Malfoy?" My voice could have been mistaken for startled.

"No, damn it, I'm not okay." He hissed at me, and raised his voice to get Snape's attention. "Professor, Granger got me injured. I think these are third degree burns. At least second degree."

"I can see that, Draco. Fifty points from Gryffindor, and Ms Granger will be so kind to walk Mr Malfoy to the infirmary!" I did not start a fight about it, I reached my goal, and I swore to get those fifty points back tomorrow. I looked at my watch while listening to Malfoy's moans and snivel: "Don't touch me, mudblood!". I had three minutes left. Malfoy only had his hand injured, that he was holding above the cauldron, and I wouldn't say it was only a scratch, but the limp was a little too much.

"Hurry up, Malfoy, I don't plan on being late for Charms!" Everything went just according to the plan; I didn't want to blow it by being two minutes late. I was satisfied when I realized we were in the right corridor one whole minute early. I tried to calm my nerves, and then I stepped away from Malfoy.

"You know what, Malfoy?! I had enough! It's not my fault you screwed up the potion, and walking like you just had a bloody car accident really crowns all! Go to the infirmary the way you want to, I have more important things to do!" I shouted at him, and I made a mental notice that the British movie industry would need just as talented actresses as I was.

"_You_ had enough, mudblood? I think you should –" I will never know what I should have done, because in the moment he said 'mudblood', two things happened. On the one hand I pushed my wand under his chin and cornered him to the wall; on the other hand McGonagall arrived to the scene. I couldn't have wished for a better timing.

"Ms Granger, put your wand away right this moment! This behaviour is unheard of. And don't believe, Mr Malfoy, that I did not hear what made Ms Granger this angry. I'm deeply disappointed in both of you. I would have expected more from you."

This was just perfect. McGonagall mentioned last year, that she has a meeting with Dumbledore in his office on every Tuesday, 12 pm sharp.

"Detention for both of you." I was about to cry from happiness. Step three just got in the game. "And I want to make sure you will take it seriously, so your detention will take place on Saturday, during the Hogsmeade trip, or rather instead of it. I hope you will remember once for all, that no student of this school will make comments about anyone's parentage, and no student will point their wand at anyone."

"Professor, you can't do that!"

"Are you talking back now, Ms Granger?! I absolutely can, and will do that! Of course, Mr Malfoy, the head of your house will hear- Dear Merlin, what happened to your hand?" McGonagall asked in shock. To be fair I completely forgot about it, too, even though the injury did look pretty bad. I was thinking ahead, and I picked out the ingredients carefully, so that if it would get into the wound, there would be no infections in the end, but the explosion gave him a thin, but deep cut on his forearm from his elbow to his wrist. He'll live though; Madam Pomfrey will heal him in no time.

"There was an accident in Potions; we were just heading to the infirmary." I informed McGonagall quickly, before Malfoy could have told his own story.

"Then why are you still here? Go! I'll meet you at three on Saturday in front of the Transfiguration classroom. I suggest you to eat a square meal before you come, because I can't promise to be done with you by dinnertime." She said, and then left us. I only realized then, that Malfoy did not say a word all along, and now he was looking at me with vibrant hate in his eyes. It will get better, I thought to myself. I took a step towards him, so I could help him on his way to the infirmary.

"I know the way." He mumbled, and left me there.

* * *

I ran back to Potions to get my bag with guilt. The room was already empty. I walked alone to Charms, and tried to come up with something, how to tell Harry and Ron about this. Harry told me not to plan anything for this weekend, he said it was important.

I'll have to tell them everything. How could I ever consider leaving my best friends out of this anyway? I was afraid how they would react, and I had to admit they will be probably right, no matter how angry they are going to be. This week we practiced on Charms what we've learned so far, so we were able to talk without Professor Flitwick scolding us.

"Hey" I murmured quietly sitting down next to them.

"Hermione, would you tell us what the hell this was?" Ron asked in a stifled voice.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to have to." I said, then I casted a Muffliato and started talking. When I reached the part about the bet, their eyes darkened. Like they would have wanted to tell me that "Lavender is one thing, but from you, Hermione, we would have expected more". And they were right, of course. But they did not interrupt me while I was talking until I told about the detention.

"Look, Hermione, I want to talk to you about the bet, too, but we have bigger problems in this moment." Harry spoke up. "Dumbledore has a strong suspect about Voldemort having an insider, a spy, if you like, in the castle, and we all know who would be our first guess. Everything seems to verify this idea. But we need proof first, and on Saturday we would have had a great chance at doing that. We were told that Malfoy was supposed to meet some Deatheaters in Hogsmeade, who would have told him what to do next. You could have traced him down under my cloak."

"Me?" I was surprised. Harry was not one to hand over jobs he could do himself.

"Yes, you. They will watch Ron and me for sure, and they know about my cloak. But you have been going to Hogsmeade separately for a long time now, with Ginny, or with Lavender and Parvati, you usually only join us after you lived out your girly side, and shopped for a few hours. Nobody would have noticed you following him.

"It doesn't matter anymore, does it?" I sighed. "I understand now why Malfoy looked at me like I killed his mother. What will he say to Voldemort? 'Sorry, Dark Lord, I had this detention with this mudblood instead of getting your next orders. No hard feelings, right?'" Harry and Ron pushed back a smile.

"Okay, I know Harry said we would talk about it later," Ron started, after trying to charm a chest for five minutes now, without any success. "But I can't sit here without saying anything. How could you go along with this bet? This is so not you, Hermione." He said with sad eyes. I think his disappointment was bigger than Harry's, given the fact that we were dating for a while.

"I have no idea, but I'm thinking about giving it up after this."

"Look, we would help you with doing the girls' homework if you would need us, right, Harry?

"Of course. It's not worth getting dirt on your hands. Would have you been able to kiss him?" Harry asked making a disgusted face.

"I don't know, guys, I really don't know."

"Uh, gross. Not to mention that you didn't tell us a word about it. Have this whole Hogsmeade thing not came up, would have you said anything?"

"I would have talked about this before, but I knew you would react this way. And I knew you would be right." I continued. "I thought there would be no harm in this. He deserves it after all, and it would be fun."

"Fun? If I had to do the same with - let's say - Pansy Parkinson, I think 'fun' would be the last word that would come to my mind about it." I knew Ron was right in this, too, but I did not tell him that Malfoy looked better than Pansy though. We have been walking on thin ice with talking about our love life since we broke up, and I'm not sure if he would be upset to hear something like this from me.

Ron turned his attention back to the chest. While I was watching Ron's struggle, I had a great idea how to use Malfoy's anger to reach my goals.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you all for reading this, let me know what you think about it! **

**Aaand I'm still in need of a beta, so my inbox is still open to anyone whose first language is English at least, and would help me with making sense with my story. Until then, please excuse my writing.**


	3. Ladykiller

_Ooooh__  
__She's in it just to win it__  
__Don't trust her for a minute__  
__Ooooh__  
__It's like a cheap thriller__  
__She's such a ladykiller___

_Baby she'll eat you alive, as soon as she smells your blood in the water__  
__You better run to survive, before she makes you her latest slaughter_

_/Maroon 5 – Ladykiller/_

I had three days to work out a plan for Saturday afternoon. I tried to be prepared for every possible outcome, I tried to get to the same conversation from every possible situation, so I was borderline schizophrenic. I knew there was too much risk in how he reacts to different things, and I really didn't want to fail.

In the meantime Harry and Ron were trying to talk me out of my plan.

"Hermione, I ask you with all my heart, give this plan up right away!" Harry demanded one time, after he and Ron managed to get me to tell my plans to them after one whole day of begging. "It's so not worth it."

"Harry, how many times do I have to tell you, this could benefit us?! Think about it, if I could get him to fall in love with me, maybe I could get some information out of him. Or –

"Hermione, you can't expect that git to have feelings. This attitude is completely wrong!" Ron seethed.

"It's not about me anymore. It's a matter of principle. And you can't talk me out of it. What is the worst case scenario? He won't fall in love with me, oh, good Merlin, what now?" I sighed theatrically. "This question is not up to debate, and that's it."

On Saturday at half past two I started to get ready. I was in no hurry, I worked everything out carefully. I started with the outfit. I was putting on my school uniform, and my robe, but I did not fasten it.

The next step was my make up. I did it the same way I always do, expect I smudged it here and there.

The making of my hair must have looked ridiculous. I took my time fixing it, and then I slightly ruffled it up, then started to arrange the curls again. It was the hardest of them all, but I thought I did a great job in the end. I took a glance at my watch; it was three o'clock, so I had a little time left.

I made my way down to the common room, and it was empty. Of course, everyone was in Hogsmeade. I sighed, and then I ran up and down on the staircase three times. When I felt I was flushed enough, I started to jog towards the Transfiguration classroom.

Reaching the classroom I saw the door was already closed, and no one was waiting in front of it. Everything was going according to the plan. I was a little ashamed for risking McGonagall's good opinion of me, but I thought I had still enough time to prove I'm still me.

"Excuse me for being late, professor." I said panting, after I quickly knocked and opened the door. "I was held up."

It can be a little messy, when you are pretending to cover up something that you didn't even do. It needs a really good balance; you can't overdo it, but the people need to notice what you want them to notice.

In this case that I had a get-together with someone, that's why I was late, hence the ruffled hair, the ruined make up, the flushing. I stroked my hair as if I was trying to fix it.

McGonagall took a stern look at me, then waved me to sit down.

"So as I was about to tell Mr Malfoy before you arrived, your detention won't take place here." My first thought was the Forbidden Forest. McGonagall found my blind spot; I wasn't expecting that, I have to rethink everything. "Follow me, please; I'll give you the details there."

I was working on a whole new plan when I noticed that McGonagall was taking us to an empty classroom. She stopped at the door and waited until Malfoy and I went in, then to my surprise she didn't come in at all.

"Well, I was thinking what kind of detention to give you two a lot, since you shared detention before, and it seems like it wasn't very affective. So I ruled out the simple detention where you have to clean something without magic. Instead of that, I asked the headmaster to help me rearrange this classroom. Your task is simple: get out of the classroom. I'll spare you some time by telling you, don't even waste time on trying with the door or the windows, it's not the key. I could actually leave this door open, but I don't one any students to cause problems who might wander around here. If you won't get out by then, I'll open the door tomorrow at three pm. I'm going to check on you every four hours, but the goal of this task would be to force you to communicate and work together. I'll bring you food and drinks if needed. There's more than one way to get out of here, I'm eager to see which one you choose. See you in four hours!"

And as she left us, I already knew which one I'm going to choose, but I didn't want to get out any time soon.

I looked at Draco curiously, I wanted to know how much time it will take for him to see through the problem, but he sat down on one of the beds with a bored face. The tables and chairs were removed from the classroom; there were only two beds and a table in there.

"Don't you plan on getting out of here?" I asked.

"Don't talk to me, Granger, let's try and make it through the next twenty-four hours in silence." His voice was icy. That meeting must have been really important to him, if he's still this angry after three days. There was a thing I didn't understand, though.

"If you wanted to go to Hogsmeade so bad, why didn't you just go, and get another detention with a better timing?"

"Don't think I didn't try, but I already asked you to minimize the communication to the lowest level possible." He hissed. I started to get to him, good.

"I still don't get it. Why don't you try to find a solution to get out?"

"No, Granger, I won't even try, simple because this nonsense was cooked up by the dear old McGonagall and the dear old headmaster, so the solution must be some lovey-dovey bullshit, therefore I have zero chance to figure it out. Now this is the last time I ask you to shot your mouth, if you don't, I'll be forced to stupefy you." He said with a calm voice, but I could hear his frustration out of it. I decided to let him cool down a little.

I was thinking about my options, and I found it was the best to pretend to do what I would do if I wouldn't have the solution figured out already. I spent half an hour walking about in the room while Malfoy was lying on the bed.

"Stop it!" Malfoy growled without opening his eyes.

"What?" I asked a little testily. It's not easy to think of a way out when you already have one.

"The walking around and the talking to yourself." He said, he opened his eyes and he sat up.

"You know, Malfoy, I have better things to do then spending twenty-four hours with you."

"Better things? Like the reason you were late?" Am I crazy, or did Malfoy just ask me a personal question?

"Not like you have anything to do with my private life –

"Do you have one?"

"Do you care if I have one?" I snapped back. It silenced him, so I started to walk around again.

"What are you doing?" He asked five minutes later.

"It's a thing I don't think you're familiar with: thinking. Don't expect me to tell you what it feels like."

"If you talk like this, Granger, you can forget my help!"

"Are you tired of lying around, or why do you want to help suddenly?"

"It's starting to get stinky in here; do you have any idea who might be the reason?"

I smiled, and took a deep breath. There was no lack of passion between us, that's for sure.

"Do you want to spend a couple more hours with fighting, or you want to hear what I have found out so far?" I asked calmly.

"Make it short!"

"Well, I figured we should start with the information we have."

"Wow, Granger, where is your Order of Merlin?" Malfoy interrupted.

"Do you have any other comments you want to share, or do I get to finish what I want to say? That's what I thought. So, McGonagall told us not to bother with the door and windows, so first I tried to find out what kind of charms they used on the room, and see if it has a weak spot somewhere. The problem is that it is as if they hadn't used any charms. I ran out of spells, so I tried something else. I thought maybe McGonagall was trying to slow us down by telling us not to waste time on the door, and that maybe there is no charm on it at all. I attacked different points of the wall to see if –

"I didn't hear you casting spells." He noted.

"I did them nonverbally, and the hexes had no effects."

"I didn't see you doing them, either."

"You had your eyes closed, Malfoy, for Merlin's sake! Are you finished?"

"I asked you to make it short, and then you tell me everything that failed."

"I know there is a pretty low chance with your brain-capacity, but if you would somehow come up with an idea, I don't want you to waste time on something that I already checked."

"What's up with my brain-capacity? Go on, tell me!" He shouted, then stood up and moved towards me. Before he would realize what's happening, he found himself in the same situation as he was on Tuesday. I pushed my wand under his chin, and made him retreat. His back hit the wall, and I started talking.

"Why, Malfoy, did I just see fear in your eyes? Should I come down to your level, and curse you to pieces? It _is_ worth considering…" I hissed in his face getting so close to him that our lips almost touched as I talked. His eyes grew cold in the second I mentioned it. I pressed even closer so our lips actually touched as I spoke.

"Merlin, Malfoy, did you just shudder? Are you afraid of me or my wand? Is it hard to be cornered by a mudblood?" I felt him move a little. "If you move again to try and get your wand out of your back pocket, where you foolishly put it, we can find out how far a Griffindor would go with a boy whom she has hated for seven years. Interesting experiment, don't you think?" He seemed to think it's not. I decided on finishing the talking and I looked at his lips, as if I just noticed how close we gotten. I glanced at his eyes again, and I found a little surprise in them. I expected disgust, but I found none. The seconds passed by, and nothing happened, we just watched each other. I started to panic.

Maybe I'm not Malfoy's type. It was a possibility of course, I just never considered it. Maybe his prejudices were too strong.

I pulled my wand back a little, it was only touching his neck now, and I pulled myself back, too, so if he would have wanted to push me away, he could. But he didn't seem to want to push me away, because his lips somehow touched mine again. Our mouths started to move slowly, and I felt that neither of us knew what was exactly happening. After a few infinite seconds I pulled back and bitchslapped him.

"Don't you dare to try this again! You would be the second to last man in the whole universe, whom I would want to have any kind of relationship with right after Voldemort. Although as I think about it neither of you are men really. I'm disgusted by you, and I feel sick as I think about you touching me."

He looked completely lost.

"Dobby!" I shouted, and the little house-elf appeared next to me, I told him: "Take me to my chambers, please."

As I took a last glance at Malfoy, and I saw as his eyes start to glow, as he sees the challenge in the situation. I smiled.

Game on. 

**A/N: I'm so terribly sorry for not updating the story for this long. I have mono, and I ended up hospital for a few weeks. It turns out it's not very lucky to have it at age 20. I haven't been able to sit up in my bed, let alone do anything else, and I'm still too sick to go to my classes, I'm probably failing this semester, so I hope that's a good excuse. Anyway, I'm trying not to do anything like this again, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Aaand, as you can probably see, I'm still looking for a beta, don't be afraid to PM me, if you're interested.**


	4. Foundations

_My fingertips are holding onto the  
cracks in our foundations,  
and I know that I should let go,  
but I can't.  
And everytime we fight I know it's not right,  
everytime that you're upset and I smile  
I know I should forget, but I can't._

_/Kate Nash – Foundations/_

* * *

"Thank you for your help, Dobby, but I would like to ask a favour, too, if you don't mind." I told him smiling after we arrived in my chambers. It was empty, of course, since everyone was at Hogsmeade.

"Tell Dobby, miss!" The house-elf piped.

"Do you know who I am, Dobby?"

"The miss is a friend of Harry Potter."

"Great. And do you remember who was the boy with me in the classroom you brought me out from?"

"The son of master, Draco."

"He's just your _ex_-master, Dobby! I'd like to ask you a favour. If you hear him calling for you, don't apparate there for him. And don't bring him out of there in any circumstances. And if you would be so kind to tell this to the other elves in the kitchen, too, I would be very grateful."

"Dobby helps the miss, yes! Can Dobby do anything else for the friend of Harry Potter?"

"No, Dobby, thank you, that's all." I felt a little guilty for using the poor elf. "Wait a minute! I would like to pay back the favour somehow. Do you still do the cleaning the common room?"

"Yes, Dobby and two other house-elves."

"Then I would suggest you to pay a little more attention to the armchair in front of the fireplace. You may find something there next time."

I smiled at him again, and tried to remember how much wool I have left from last year. Dobby disapparated, and I sat down on my bed. I tried to play the steps of my plan in my head in Malfoy's point of view. It came to me that I may try to think with Malfoy's head too much lately. I'm getting more and more Slytherin, and that was the biggest insult.

I tried to think of something else. I realized I've been neglecting studying a little, so I grabbed some pergamen, ink and a quill, and took off to the library. I sank into the books, and it felt like home between those beloved bookshelves.

* * *

It was already dark outside when I noticed how time flew by. I didn't have my watch with me, but I hoped it's not too late in the night yet. I grabbed my stuff quickly, and ran as fast as I could. I didn't bump into anyone on the way back, but the common room was quite crowded. Harry and Ron were not there, though, and I was thinking about their reaction to the news that Malfoy kissed me.

I went up to our chambers, where Parvati and Lavender were gossiping about something.

"Oh, Hermione! We were just talking about you." Parvati said.

"What a coincidence." I murmured, and I already knew what they were going to ask next.

"If you don't mind the question, how is the operation going? Considering we are halfway to the deadline –

"As a matter of fact I do mind the question. And I'm completely aware of how much time I have left, and I wanted to talk to you about this. That time is not enough. Two weeks? Okay, I can catch his attention in two weeks, but he won't fall in love with me that quickly. No one would, not even someone with actual feelings."

"Okay, we can give you a little more time, but we have a condition." Parvati smirked.

"Spill it."

"You have to tell us everything from now on. Anything related to the project." Lavender announced."

"And how much time do I get for this?" I asked tiredly.

"We would go with…"

"Let's say…"

"Four weeks altogether…"

"So a month…"

"Deal." I sighed.

"And now, you tell us every little dirty detail." Lavender informed proudly.

"I bet you haven't even kissed him yet." Parvati told, but it sounded like a question.

"I did not, that's true, but _he_ kissed _me_." I started, and the girls went back to the giggling.

I woke up early next morning. It was Sunday, so I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't, so I climbed out my bed. I was thinking about Harry and Ron, and the kiss again, then how Malfoy could get out of the room, if he did. I imagined a few scenarios about the conversation with the boys, and I became very nervous.

After finishing my morning routine, I searched for my wool and my kitting needles, and went down to the common room. It was perfectly empty, and I was envious of those who could sleep a little more than I did. I sat down the said armchair, and chose the colours. I wanted to do a navy pullover with a light blue pattern.

I got a lot better since last year, so my work was quicker and nicer. I ended up with a pretty little piece of clothing. I tucked it in the armchair, and went back to my chamber for some newspapers to cover it up with.

By the time I was back, Harry and Ron came down, too. I decided to be brave, like a Griffindor should, but as I saw them, I felt nervous again, so I decided to just say hi to them, and run away.

"Hey, guys, sorry, but I have to run."

Harry and Ron noticed my weird behaviour, of course, and stopped me.

"Don't you want to tell us what happened yesterday at detention?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Well, it's not the best time for that."

"What is so important?" Thank you, Ron, for pointing out the weak part of my argument. Which was the complete lack of an argument.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I haven't finished my paper for History of Magic yet."

"And you don't have anything better to do at seven in the morning on a Sunday?" Ron asked sceptically.

"Well, you know me…" Hermione, you couldn't be more transparent if you tried.

"Okay, you sit down in that armchair, and tell us what you want to escape so badly." Harry announced leaving no place for excuses.

"Why are you up so early, by the way?" Attack is the best form of defence.

"Hermione!" Ron raised his voice.

"Alright, alright, you don't have to shout at me." I said, bowed my head down, sat down in my designated armchair, and started talking. I wanted to simplify and expurgate things, but I didn't want to lie to them. After I was done, there were a few minutes of silence. Then Ron spoke up.

"This has to end!"

"What? Ron, I don't want to hurt you, but we broke up three months ago, there is not much you can end here."

"I didn't talk about us, you screwball. I talked about you and Malfoy."

"But we aren't together yet." I eyed him uncomprehending.

"That's the thing, you won't be either. This whole bullshit is finished; I don't know why we even let you get this far in the first place."

"Ron, I really don't want to hurt you, you are my best friend, one of the most important people in my life, but you can't just make decisions for me." I protested.

"Then I make it simple for you. You can choose: it's him or us.

I look at Harry with desperation, but he seemed to be with Ron in this. I had to accept that they are serious.

"Ron! Ron, please, don't do this! Harry, say something!"

"Hermione, it's a simple yes or no question." Harry told calmly.

"No, Harry. A yes or no question has yes or no as an answer." I corrected him.

"Okay, then I change the question. Do you choose us, or not?"

"Ron, it was never a question." I cried out.

"It takes you an awful lot time to answer it, though." Ron murmured angrily. In that moment I was so furious at him, that I almost shouted a "no" at him, but I knew I can't risk our friendship with something like that.

"You know our friendship is the most important thing for me. But this ultimatum makes no sense; you have to understand that –

"No." Harry interrupted. "You made your choice, there's nothing else to say."

"But –

"Tell us why you have those newspapers in your hand!" Ron changed the subject.

"Oh, I wanted to pay back Dobby's faver, so I knitted a pullover for him, and I wanted to hide it underneath these newspapers. And what about you, being up so early? It's not like you." I said letting the subject go.

"We just wanted to prove a suspicion." Harry shrugged.

"What?"

"It looks like Harry is being followed by the Slytherins. We wanted to checked that, and we thought that if someone is being followed at half past six in the morning on a Sunday, that can't be a coincidence. And we were right."

"So they do follow you?"

"Yes. They don't know what to do about my cloak yet, but I have a feeling they are in search for a solution. They know about it, though, and that's more than enough."

"Who are following you exactly?"

"Well, that's the weird thing." Ron started talking. "One time, it was some third graders, other time, it was Crab and Goyle. It's always someone else, but there are always two of them. We figured out why. If Harry does something, let's say, go to Dumbledore's office, then one of them stays and watch, the other goes to pass the information."

"Did Malfoy follow you?" I asked Harry suddenly.

"Hermione, please, just let the Malfoy thing go!" Ron moaned.

"No, you don't get it. Did he, Harry?"

"No, I haven't seen him yet."

"That's it then. Just think about it! If there were so many people following you, there must have been someone who pulls the strings. Someone with enough influence on his schoolmates. And someone who won't waste his precious time on you himself."

"We thought it might be him, too." Harry admitted.

"And yet you still think that there would be no point in getting close to Malfoy?" I looked at them angrily.

"Yes." They answered automatically, and changed the subject again. I knew it was better not to push them, but I did not give up. I will find a solution. I couldn't see a way expect for going behind the boys' back, and I didn't want to do that, but I will find a way, and that's it. I put the problem aside, and listened to them chatting about the Potions paper.

* * *

I couldn't fall asleep at evening. No matter how hard I tried to accept the subject was closed, I still thought about it. Although my plan was over no matter what, since from now on everything was depending on Malfoy. I would have to wait for his next move anyway, so I had little time to come up with something.

I was sad to notice in the morning that it became a routine for me somehow to start Monday mornings without getting enough sleep. I was so tired that I didn't even remember yesterday's happenings while I was getting ready. Just when I was thinking about my day did I realize our first class will be History of Magic with the Slytherins, and then I lost all the will I had to make it through the day. I wanted to crawl back to my bed so bad, and yet I couldn't.

I made my way to the Great Hall feeling sleepy, so of course I left my bag in my chamber again. Another thing on the list of my Monday mornings' routine. As I ran up on the stairs, I've heard the voices of Parvati and Lavender, who just finished taking a shower. I did not try to overhear anything, but I did.

"Look, I'm sure he knows it anyway." Lavender told.

"But it's not fair. We have to tell Hermione." I was just about to step into the room, but I froze.

"No, we don't and we won't, Lavender." Parvati sighed, and she seemed to consider the subject closed, so I made my entrance.

"I think you should, though." I murmured with an icy voice. "What's the deal?"

"Nothing." The said at the same time. Why, didn't they just find concord suddenly?

"Okay, okay. I use your eyeliner when you leave it on you drawer. Mine is not as good as yours." Lavender told me watching the floor.

"You see, it wasn't that hard." Parvati laughed.

I sighed deeply. Since the operation started I'm a little more paranoid than I should be. That must have been also the reason of my feeling that Lavender wasn't honest with me. I didn't want to make accusations, though.

"No problem, Lavender. I don't think you can find this one in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. I get it sent by my parents. If you want I can tell them to send two next time." I told her smiling, then grabbed my bag and hurried to the Great Hall again. I lost precious minutes with this intermezzo, and I wanted to be one of the firsts to arrive to History of Magic.

I ate my breakfast as fast as I could, although the Great Hall was almost empty. I emptied my glass and headed to class. There was no one in front of the classroom, of course, and I had to realize I was fifteen minutes early. Then as professor Binns arrived the few other waiting students and I went in, and I took a seat in the last row. I put my bag on the chair next to mine so no one would sit down.

I was disappointed to notice five minutes after the bell rang that Malfoy wasn't going to pay a visit to the class that day. I was so sure that he would sit down next to me. I pulled my bag from the chair and put it down next to me, and tried to pay attention to the professor.

Five minutes later the door open and Malfoy walked in with a bored face. I smirked with satisfaction as I saw him realize that the only empty seat is next to me. He took the seat with a moan, and I laughed mockingly.

"If you are late, Malfoy, don't punish _me_ with forcing your company on me!"

He shot a cold look at me as I quoted him, but he didn't say anything. He never looked at me again, so I was busy making notes about the Wizard Revolution for the rest of the class. As I stood up after the bell rang again, I saw him sleeping with his head on the table. He woke up due to the noises of the students leaving, so I started to pack my things in my bag as slowly as I could. I reached my goal - we were the last people leaving the room. But I seemed to be wrong about catching his attention.

As I made a mental note about this, I was pushed hardly to the wall by a body. I hit my elbow, so I cried out in pain. I looked at Malfoy angrily. He looked furious, too, but I felt it wasn't because of me, he was just using me as a punching bag. He had me pushed to the wall so hard that I could barely breathe. He didn't say a thing, just watched me as if he wanted to make a point with it. Then pushed himself away and hissed at me.

"Don't think I forgot about you, Granger, but I have more important things to do today."

Before I could say a word, or even take a deep breath, he was gone, and I found myself alone in the corridor. My back throbbed with pain. But he had no idea that he just offered me a solution.


End file.
